Zach Rishell Foundations of College Writing - Dr. Sherry 02/23/15 Business Major
Problem A question occurred to me while I was thinking of a topic for this paper. When I was thinking I started to wonder why I chose a business major. I wondered what my dreams and aspirations were when it came to after college and what I could do with my degree, which is currently a Business Management Degree. I have known for a while that I have wanted to start a business but I started to wonder what made other people choose a business major. This is how I came up with the topic for my paper. In this paper first I provide background data with three other studies on reasons as to why people choose a business major: Bartoji’s (2013) College Major Choice and Ability and Kumar’s (2013) An Examination of Factors Influencing Student’s Selection of Business Majors. Then I address the question by asking fellow business students at Bloomsburg University why they chose to enter the business field.
Background Ethnographic studies try to understand culture through what particular people say and do. Both Bartoji and Kumar performed ethnographic studies of college students about their reasoning to enter the business field. They asked questions to current college students to try and understand what influenced their decision to enter the field. The studies were performed at a University in Slovenia and Central Michigan University. Bartoji found that people that were businessly inclined and had higher GPAs tended to choose the more complicated path of economics and people with high GPAs in an individual topic such as Accounting, tended to choose that specific interest of field (Bartoji, 2013). He also found that certain business majors were more gender related to others. An example of this he stated was that there are more males that tend to choose Information Technology Management, than females. This finding actually caused a certain change in policy to try and reduce this current trend. Kumar found that a lot of people chose the business field and different areas of it due to job openings. Students reported that the likelihood of a job after college was a big factor in their decisions. They also reported that certain people in their high-school had big influences on their decisions as well. Certain factors such as their family and High-School teaches had major impacts. One thing both Bartoji and Kumar found that was almost the same was the gender significance. Kumar also found that certain majors followed classic gender trends. Some majors even followed family or personal status of the individual.
Method To answer these questions, I used research and questioned fellow Business Students at Bloomsburg University. While I received many different responses some were similar and some even the same. With the information I recovered, I was able to discover and make connections with the reasoning why people chose the business field and or a certain business major.
Findings Asking question questions to the students of Bloomsburg allowed me to get a more personal look into why people choose the business field. Many of the results I found were similar. This lead me to believe that most students have the same thought process when it comes to choosing their major. Most of them tend to look at going to college as more of an opportunity to get a better job so they took their college major decisions seriously. One of the most significant things I found was that almost everybody said that they chose their major was because it offered a better paying salary then a rivaling option. While some majors do statistically offer better salaries, I am basing my results off of the answers and personal beliefs of the students that participated in the study. Most students seemed like that they would take good paying career over a job that gives them a sense of overall happiness. I also found that students looked for the amount of job openings that were to be expected when they graduated. They realize that the economy may not be the best when they leave college and considered job security as another big factor in their college major decision. The students with Accounting Majors seemed to believe that their major had the best of both of these worlds. They stated how their major offers great job security and a well paying salary. When asked if and why, they enjoy accounting, their responses differed. Some actually seemed interested and received pleasure from their work in accounting. They reported that they enjoyed the mathematical aspect of it, and some said they enjoyed the knowledge that they were helping others with their career. Others though, said that they only chose it because it offered job security or a good salary. Another major aspect that students considered was personal joy and happiness that they received from their major. Students said they could not imagine living a life working a job that they dreaded going to everyday. They did not want to hate waking up in the morning just to make a good paycheck. Some students wanted personal satisfaction aside from a paycheck. The happiness they could receive from their job was more important. This left me with a good feeling, knowing that not everybody just cared about money somehow made me a little happier. This aspect seemed to resonate with the management majors. It seemed as if they got personal satisfaction from being in charge of people but still being able to positively motivate them to do a better job. Some reported that they enjoyed the challenge and pressure that came along with the management job title. Certain Students stated that they felt like the opportunity to move up the chains was much more possible if they had the management degree.
Conclusion Based on my researching and questioning, the students at Bloomsburg University tend to focus on three factors when it comes to their reasoning on why they chose the Business field and their certain major in the Business field. These three factors are salary, job security, and personal satisfaction. It seems as if certain majors follow more trends than others. To me, this data shows that while some students care only about salary, there are some that care about personal satisfaction and happiness they receive from it more. Overall, students have many reasons as to why they choose their own major and it can vary from personal family members to the salary of their possible career.
Works Cited
Kumar, Anil, and Poonam Kumar. "An Examination Of Factors Influencing Students Selection Of Business Majors Using TRA Framework." Decision Sciences Journal Of Innovative Education 11.1 (2013): 77-105. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Bartolj, Tjaša, and Sašo Polanec. "College Major Choice And Ability: Why Is General Ability Not Enough?." Economics Of Education Review 31.(2012): 996-1016. ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Bloch, Janel, and Sandra E. Spataro. "Cultivating Critical-Thinking Dispositions Throughout The Business Curriculum."Business Communication Quarterly 77.3 (2014): 249-265. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. ?
Foundations of College Writing - Dr. Sherry
02/23/15
Business Major
Problem
A question occurred to me while I was thinking of a topic for this paper. When I was thinking I started to wonder why I chose a business major. I wondered what my dreams and aspirations were when it came to after college and what I could do with my degree, which is currently a Business Management Degree. I have known for a while that I have wanted to start a business but I started to wonder what made other people choose a business major. This is how I came up with the topic for my paper. In this paper first I provide background data with three other studies on reasons as to why people choose a business major: Bartoji’s (2013) College Major Choice and Ability and Kumar’s (2013) An Examination of Factors Influencing Student’s Selection of Business Majors. Then I address the question by asking fellow business students at Bloomsburg University why they chose to enter the business field.
Background
Ethnographic studies try to understand culture through what particular people say and do. Both Bartoji and Kumar performed ethnographic studies of college students about their reasoning to enter the business field. They asked questions to current college students to try and understand what influenced their decision to enter the field. The studies were performed at a University in Slovenia and Central Michigan University.
Bartoji found that people that were businessly inclined and had higher GPAs tended to choose the more complicated path of economics and people with high GPAs in an individual topic such as Accounting, tended to choose that specific interest of field (Bartoji, 2013). He also found that certain business majors were more gender related to others. An example of this he stated was that there are more males that tend to choose Information Technology Management, than females. This finding actually caused a certain change in policy to try and reduce this current trend.
Kumar found that a lot of people chose the business field and different areas of it due to job openings. Students reported that the likelihood of a job after college was a big factor in their decisions. They also reported that certain people in their high-school had big influences on their decisions as well. Certain factors such as their family and High-School teaches had major impacts. One thing both Bartoji and Kumar found that was almost the same was the gender significance. Kumar also found that certain majors followed classic gender trends. Some majors even followed family or personal status of the individual.
Method
To answer these questions, I used research and questioned fellow Business Students at Bloomsburg University. While I received many different responses some were similar and some even the same. With the information I recovered, I was able to discover and make connections with the reasoning why people chose the business field and or a certain business major.
Findings
Asking question questions to the students of Bloomsburg allowed me to get a more personal look into why people choose the business field. Many of the results I found were similar. This lead me to believe that most students have the same thought process when it comes to choosing their major. Most of them tend to look at going to college as more of an opportunity to get a better job so they took their college major decisions seriously.
One of the most significant things I found was that almost everybody said that they chose their major was because it offered a better paying salary then a rivaling option. While some majors do statistically offer better salaries, I am basing my results off of the answers and personal beliefs of the students that participated in the study. Most students seemed like that they would take good paying career over a job that gives them a sense of overall happiness.
I also found that students looked for the amount of job openings that were to be expected when they graduated. They realize that the economy may not be the best when they leave college and considered job security as another big factor in their college major decision.
The students with Accounting Majors seemed to believe that their major had the best of both of these worlds. They stated how their major offers great job security and a well paying salary. When asked if and why, they enjoy accounting, their responses differed. Some actually seemed interested and received pleasure from their work in accounting. They reported that they enjoyed the mathematical aspect of it, and some said they enjoyed the knowledge that they were helping others with their career. Others though, said that they only chose it because it offered job security or a good salary.
Another major aspect that students considered was personal joy and happiness that they received from their major. Students said they could not imagine living a life working a job that they dreaded going to everyday. They did not want to hate waking up in the morning just to make a good paycheck. Some students wanted personal satisfaction aside from a paycheck. The happiness they could receive from their job was more important. This left me with a good feeling, knowing that not everybody just cared about money somehow made me a little happier.
This aspect seemed to resonate with the management majors. It seemed as if they got personal satisfaction from being in charge of people but still being able to positively motivate them to do a better job. Some reported that they enjoyed the challenge and pressure that came along with the management job title. Certain Students stated that they felt like the opportunity to move up the chains was much more possible if they had the management degree.
Conclusion
Based on my researching and questioning, the students at Bloomsburg University tend to focus on three factors when it comes to their reasoning on why they chose the Business field and their certain major in the Business field. These three factors are salary, job security, and personal satisfaction. It seems as if certain majors follow more trends than others.
To me, this data shows that while some students care only about salary, there are some that care about personal satisfaction and happiness they receive from it more. Overall, students have many reasons as to why they choose their own major and it can vary from personal family members to the salary of their possible career.
Works Cited
- Kumar, Anil, and Poonam Kumar. "An Examination Of Factors Influencing Students Selection Of Business Majors Using TRA Framework." Decision Sciences Journal Of Innovative Education 11.1 (2013): 77-105. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
- Bartolj, Tjaša, and Sašo Polanec. "College Major Choice And Ability: Why Is General Ability Not Enough?." Economics Of Education Review 31.(2012): 996-1016. ScienceDirect. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.
Bloch, Janel, and Sandra E. Spataro. "Cultivating Critical-Thinking Dispositions Throughout The Business Curriculum."Business Communication Quarterly 77.3 (2014): 249-265. Business Source Premier. Web. 22 Feb. 2015. ?